Chikara Nadir
Chikara Nadir is a several hundred year old being, currently the ruler and goddess incarnate of The Empire of Koridai, and the last formal leader of The Labyrinth. She is the adopted mother of Selena Nadir and Toan Avinai, and the mortal host of the ancient god of chaos and disorder, Lazu. History Origins and The Labyrinth Stories tell that Chikara was born either from the cursed bones of a warrior corpse overturned by gravediggers at midnight, or else from the eternal fires of Death Mountain. However, the earliest actual accounts of her existence within the Labyrinth date circa 650 BDW, when a young woman was found tearing a would-be raiding party of Hall fighters limb from limb at the threshold of the Labyrinth's tunnels. Weaponless and blood-drenched, the labyrinth soldiers assumed she was a teenaged mercenary boy on a rite of passage to prove himself to the underground dwellers, and she was taken into the warrior kingdom with open arms. It took over a decade for stories of her fighting capacity to be accepted as the works of a girl, and by then she had blossomed into not only a military tactical genius but also a seductress. At first the idea of her being female seemed laughable to most, as Chikara was more crude, dangerous, and alcoholic than all but their most prized and utterly insane soldiers. But using overtly sexual clothing and behavior to make up for her petite figure packed with brute strength, the longest surviving men of the Labyrinth eventually found themselves falling over her every whim and willing to fight one another in duels to the death at the opportunity for a night in her bed in the aptly named "Red Room." By the year 639 BDW she was crowned the first and only queen of a nation that had little government intervention at the time; Veteran, the last leader of The Brotherhood that had formerly bound the nation together, had disappeared some years previous with rumors of his ascension into an ancient sect dedicated to Lazu, and the last traces of his monarchy were wiped out when his temple was burnt to the ground by the newly ascended queen. Knowledge of Chikara's skills in the battlefield was growing, and soon she became a personal target of the Labyrinth's sworn enemies, The Hall of Heroes. She sent a very clear message to the Hall in the form of one single soldier left to return to them from a failed assassination attempt in her private bath, wherein she murdered an entire squadron barehanded and in the nude. From that moment onward she made it her personal goal not simply to torment the Hall but to entirely eradicate them, both by military force and through spies used to create dissent that would aid in an eventual civil war between the Hall's rulers. After the fall of the Hall of Heroes, two new opponents arose: The Desert of Mystery, primarily made up by the most vengeful of the Hall's former soldiers, and the The Chamber of Sages, which included many past residents of Kakariko Village who had left their homes in part to escape constant raids by the nearby Labyrinth. The pious attitude of the Sages caused much glee to the Labyrinth's queen, as she found bullying a nation with beliefs so unlike her own to be a game of cat and mouse; the Sages also found purpose in cleansing the world of the Labyrinth's violence and perversion. Rise of Chikara's Children During this period Chikara also chose to expand her power by taking on several younger warriors as her adopted offspring, with the potential that one might become her personal aid and heir. Only two would survive to adulthood under her harsh tutelage. The first was an outcast from the Desert, a Zora named Toan Avinai who was unable to endure the hot nature of the only kingdom that accepted him. While doting on him the affection and interaction he yearned for on the edge of the unforgiving desert, Chikara also used his insider knowledge to keep tabs on her enemies. Many years later she fully divulged to him her position as the queen of his homeland's greatest threat, and the Zora man would finally become an honorary resident of the Labyrinth only after the perceived destruction of the three rival domains and the rise of Khuffie's Legends Alliance. The second protege was widely accepted as the only other female in the Labyrinth worthy of being given a position as general. Chikara would dote on the girl in such a way that it appeared that she was constantly questioning and reprimanding her judgment, creating the perfect heir in the same manner that a blacksmith might beat a rod in blistering fire until it became an unbreakable blade. She was named Selena Nadir. The woman was everything Chikara desired as a second in command in battle, but her stiff attitude toward constant battling in the search for military perfection sorely contrasted with Chikara's belief that the Labyrinth would fall without a careful balance of war and simple enjoyment of life. After all, Chikara assumed, her kingdom had been formed on the backs of men with a desire for good liquor and an endless supply of gold and women, and these men had no obligation to stay if they felt that their personal interests were not served. Khuffie's Alliance When a rising general by the name of Emperor Khuffie rose to power by the year 10 BDW, his unexpected skills quickly wiped out the three other nations whose military forces were already preoccupied on one another. The Labyrinth's army was still weakened from having much of their force exterminated a hundred years earlier in a major water poisoning by the Desert, so when Khuffie's soldiers flooded the center of the Labyrinth the queen and her princess found themselves submitting to the new leader's dominance to protect their people from annihilation. The two women were made members of Khuffie's Tower of the Gods, a puppet government for his new The Legends Alliance in which he pretended the former rulers of the three fallen domains had some say in his control of the land, while in reality they lived almost as prisoners under his demanding watch. They used this opportunity to find and aid the survivors of their Labyrinth, secretly moving them to another section of the underground tunnels unknown by the Alliance. While Selena soon escaped the watch of The Tower to found the nation of Ikana Canyon out of both resurrected fallen soldiers and survivors from the various nations banded together to overthrow Khuffie, Chikara remained in The Tower as the eyes and ears of the rebellion while progressively subjecting herself to a position as lapdog to a man who took pleasure in the humiliation of former threats. Her only purposes in life were to revitalize the former glory of The Labyrinth and to personally strike down Emperor Khuffie. Selena's first major mistake was in her choice to destroy the major Alliance city of Van'Duras, not because of the direct strike against the Emperor but because she also used this as an opportunity to rid herself of her only other major threat: Chikara herself. The Labyrinth's soldiers stormed the city from their underground tunnels below, and while Chikara was busy trying to aid in her daughter's effort she found herself unprepared for a battle against assassins sent in the form of her own Labyrinth soldiers. Barely escaping to the capital of Olimandias, Chikara would gather half of the soldiers of her lost kingdom under her wing and away from Selena's influence while being forced to work twice as hard to appease the Emperor that she loathed. However, it was worth it for the opportunity to safely regain political and military strength for the day when she knew Selena would strike at her again. This opportunity came when the three nations of Ikana Canyon, The Lost Woods, and The Forsaken Fortress, along with the soldiers of the Labyrinth still devoted to Selena, banded together in a great assault against Olimandias to storm the city and assassinate Emperor Khuffie. Chikara had no interest in defending the Emperor, wishing to wait until the palace defenses had been obliterated before stalking him down herself. Her main focus instead was on finding Selena and striking down the insubordinate princess in a duel to the death. Their battleground was a temple housing tablets holding power associated with the god of chaos and disorder, Lazu, which Selena had been requested to remove and give to the mysterious Labyrinth dweller Keel. The God of Chaos In the heat of the duel, Chikara faced the opportunity to finally murder the one woman she considered her peer and worthy enemy. Instead, she chose to impale herself upon Selena's dagger to give her protege rightful claim to the throne of the Labyrinth while at the same time controlling the tide of their battle once and for all. Allowing herself to succumb to death, the insanity of her choice gave reason for Keel to save the woman by sacrificing himself and resurrecting within Chikara the true soul of Lazu. Now a vessel for the souls of the innumerable past mortal avatars of Lazu, and unable to harness the immense chaotic power within herself, Chikara forced Selena to follow her to the palace where she planned on murdering her former tormenter, Khuffie. However, the man had already been killed. The newly born goddess was filled with unquenched rage, and instead struck out first to kill The Admiral of the Forsaken Fortress, and then to destroy Olimandias itself. The entire capital city was leveled without the woman so much as losing breath, her maniacal laughter ringing through alleyways and steeples alike as the stones of their supports were torn asunder. Blood rained down from the sky, soldiers of every nationality being drained of their life while the rolling hills around them were overturned like pebbles by a field plow. Chikara caused mountains to flatten, rivers and oceans to boil, and The Lost Woods to burn in the blink of an eye. The ocean shores began to burn boats docked too close to shore, forcing any surviving ships to move out to open sea if they hoped to escape, and a shadow army began to stalk down the survivors on land as they left behind all of their worldly possessions to escape to the outer edges of the nation. Only those fleeing south are known to have survived the battle, as those who remained within the confines of the Alliance generally are known to have gone insane. Escape could not be found within the depths of the Labyrinth, as she had even caused the majority of her former home to collapse in on itself. As for those who made it to the southern Taj-Nar Mountains, their trek to safety still would be arduous and potentially fatal. Creation of the Empire of Koridai When Chikara regained some semblance of sanity, she used her new powers to aid what survivors she could find in making it across the frozen mountain passes and into a desert to the east. An abandoned ancient capital was found, which the woman somehow understood to be called "The Arbiter's Grounds" with no knowledge of why the name should spring to mind. She said that they were blessed by it appearing before them, which some more fanatical followers took as a sign that Chikara's personal powers had birthed the land out of thin air for them. The land would be christened Koridai, and the fearful new citizens thought it would be safest to appease the goddess by naming her as their leader. Thus a new empire was born, called holy and protected by the ultimate existing entity. Yet they soon would discover that Selena had gathered a large portion of the remaining survivors who sought to escape the goddess and fight against her destructive powers, creating an opposing kingdom called The Kingdom of Calatia high upon a mountain pass to watch over the former Labyrinth queen and ensure that she did not attempt either to control or eradicate what was left of their world. In the coming years Koridai would become a center of commerce, tensions waning as Lazu only reared his ugly head when their nation's borders were under threat. Famines at the desert's edge were quelled by her ability to tear the earth into irrigation routes, disease rates fell as she regulated the use and access of food and water to ensure quality, and education skyrocketed as libraries and priesthoods were built in dedication to the goddess. The army was primarily led by the Warrior Eunich Priests under Pope Toan's command and Steel's Praetorian Guards, along with a somewhat independent Vanguard led by the secretive Drake Uni Amirales. Science also would be at a focal point for Koridai, both for the sake of curing illnesses and in search of biological warfare against Calatia. Now in negotiations with the foreign nation of Vildmark, Chikara hopes Koridai may further gain the scientific upper hand in the battle against the viking opposition who would wish to harm the 'holy goddess'. The Fall of Lazu The power of Lazu began to consume and warp Chikara's mind, resulting in paranoia and reckless decisions. Her constant effort to avoid being assimilated into Lazu's greater personality had put too much stress on the former dark queen. Chikara was slowly lured to the Cursed Lands north of Calatia - back to the Labyrinth - by several powerful figures. Once there, she found herself ambushed by elite Calatian warriors, Selena, an entity known as Juvenal, and hordes of corrupted beasts. She was forced to split Lazu's powers into multiple figures to deal with all her enemies at once. The creation of these shadowy former avatars allowed her to fight a wide range of opponents, but left Lazu significantly more vulnerable. The Calatians were able to defeat each avatar. With each defeat came the significant weakening of Lazu's chaotic power, and soon it was only Chikara that stood standing. She did battle with Juvenal and, in an attempt to kill Juvenal and herself at the same time, she ordered Sir Turtlelot to run them both through after grabbing hold of her mysterious new enemy. He did as instructed by the attack merely pierced Chikara's shoulder, banishing a bit more of Lazu's power but not dealing her a fatal blow. Selena, who had been using the battle as a way to 'exorcise' her rival, swooped in and warped both women back to the Arbiter's Grounds before any more harm could come to her. Once there, they grabbed what items they deemed necessary for survival and fled to the Imperial docks before anyone grew wise of Chikara's defection. They procured a vessel and set sail for the east, hoping to live under the radar in the bustling nations of Vildmark and Virrat. Appearance and Personality A petite woman of just over 5 feet (1.6 meters), Chikara is known for using tight clothing and feminine wiles to gain respect as a woman, and full bodied armor with an onslaught of weaponry to keep respect in the battlefield. Pale skinned with fanged teeth and a taste for blood, the woman would only laugh at the idea of anyone comparing her to a vampire. Although she has worked hard to maintain her ivory skin whilst on the threshold of the desert at the Arbiter's Grounds, Chikara's dark hair has turned crimson in recent years: some simply believe it has lightened from the sun, whilst others see it as a reminder of the blood of the masses she washed in when destroying the northern nations in a fit of madness fueled by Lazu. Her eyes also are crimson, but even many of her closest advisors claim that looking into them can cause madness. In battle she always comes over-prepared with a longsword, whip, and her magicked molten spork at her waist, as well as a dagger strapped to her calf. As a Labyrinth dweller Chikara was adjusted to wearing soft, form-fitting leather when at home and heavy armor at war. The only part of her always left uncovered was her head, as she believed that any opponent worth their salt would strike at the neck or eyes regardless. However, since gaining her status as goddess she has begun to dress in silken robes and gold crowns befitting a deity faced with daily meetings with emissaries and dignitaries from throughout Koridai and the small outer nations. Showing nearly opposite respect for the battlefield, she chooses to dress in loose, light clothing to free her body up and allow easy slaughter, as the woman is now literally unafraid of any enemy striking her down. Chikara is able to rend the fabric of both perceived and actual reality, causing insanity through terrorizing illusions but preferring to incapacitate her enemies by moving herself and any number or size of objects and people, causing mountains to collapse, armies to impale themselves on one another's swords, and bodies to drown in blood stolen from their very own veins. Although generally mischievous and carefree, the responsibilities of being a national leader protected within confined walls terrorize her and make the woman crave the freedom of the battlefield. However, she also fears that showing large-scale emotion will cause Lazu to claw up and gain control, leading to the annihilation of everything she has worked to rebuild. Chikara believes she has pinpointed the identities of several of the incarnations of Lazu that now live within her brain, but she is unsure of their exact quantity and is unable to completely control any. When the god surfaces and gains control, only remnants of Chikara's actual personality remain, fragmented and combined with all of the rest. Although the woman worries that she is losing her ties with humanity by becoming emotionally detached, she is more concerned that showing even a hint of lust, excitement, or anger will increase Lazu's control over her mind and allow him to slowly devour and replace her. Recently the goddess has been unable to receive more than a handful of hours sleep each night due to uncanny nightmares of an invisible treat rising up in the darkness. Rather than assuming that it is an attempt by Lazu to assume control of her while she is unconscious, Chikara fears that her inhuman senses are able to recognize the rise of a supernatural evil outside of her borders that may eventually become a threat even to a god. Current Status Chikara is currently in the nation of Virrat with Selena Nadir, which is obviously a bad combination. Category:Player Characters Category:World Leaders Category:Citizens of Koridai Category:Citizens of The Labyrinth